| Introduction
A brief evaluation of brand loyalty reveals that
today, this particular business discipline has
been transformed into one of the most sought after
areas by small and large organizations alike.
Take the name of Japanese automobile names of
Toyota, Honda or even the German made Mercedes
vehicles, one may observe that each has successfully
gained a significant market share of the global
automobile industry, simply because of the efforts
and endeavors put in to make their brands customer
friendly, efficient, economically viable and perhaps
most important of all the safety element. The
object of creating brand loyalty, as of recent
studies, is to build a relationship with the customers,
as well as to instill in ideas within their minds
as to the nature of the organization, their category
of customer, and how the respective organization
extends its relationship with the customers at
large. In addition, brand loyalty also transcends
the respective products, as is the case of our
present paper, which will discuss brand loyalty's
influence on automobile purchases.
This transcending element emerges from the brand
communication which not only strives to bring
in an entire culture both from within an organization
as well as the organization's customers, the same
also effectively influences the external audience,
otherwise commonly known to all of us as customers.
Yet another important aspect in today's competitive
business environment is the factor of profitability
and the customer expectations regarding category
values. Thus, one may observe that consumer values
are shifting at a relatively faster pace than
the name of the brands. In this context, if the
respective organization fails to take into account
the changing customer values, it may probably
end up with loosing its customer base to a competitor,
hence the value and importance of maintaining
brand loyalty and its due influence on the customer's
purchase choice (Rebecca and Robinson, 2002; USA
Today, 2002).
Brand Loyalty's Influence on Purchase of Automobiles.
Though Internet usage seems to be the savvy choice
of millions of consumers across the globe for
practically every product, the purchase of automobile
too was not far behind, a fact confirmed by a
survey titled "Automotive Internet Activity
Analysis" by a private firm. This particular
mail survey revealed that during the period of
October 1998 and September 1999, there was a sharp
increase of online sales between those with new
vehicles and those who previously owned a vehicle.
Though Internet usage amongst the purchasers of
automobiles also increased significantly, from
51.6 percent to 57.7 percent during the years
of 1998 and 1999 respectively, the Online purchases
only showed a 27 percent rise over the same period.
Another significant factor to influence Online
purchases was the designated market areas, according
to which the buyers in Washington D.C. were found
to rank 1st in vehicle shopping. The same survey
found that 75 percent of the purchasers of new
vehicles in Washington D.C. chose the Internet
as the medium for purchasing new vehicles. The
reasons for Washington D.C.'s top ranking was
attributed to the technically savvy category of
residents of the nation's capital.
In a similar survey, Los Angeles, more commonly
famous as the "car capital" of the United
States showed that its residents actually purchased
vehicles Online more than any other city including
Washington D.C. Statistics to that respect revealed
that the final count of Online buyers of automobiles
in Washington D.C. was only 5.7 percent of all
new vehicles buyers, compared to 6 percent for
Los Angeles. Though the rise in online purchase
of automobiles was attributed to the technical
savvy nature of the residents of both the cities,
the actual reasons have however remained a mystery
with decision factors limited to facility of test-driving
a new vehicle, prior experience of particular
brands and advertising campaigns of consumer magazines.
Yet another important factor for the rise of online
purchases of automobiles was the marketing and
other endeavors of automobile manufacturers. A
comparison with a number of manufacturers revealed
that European brands remained ahead of their American
counterparts in Online purchases with Sweden's
SAAB and Germany's BMW topping the list. Surprisingly
there wasn't a single American automobile manufacturer
in the top five companies (Fridman, 2000).
Factors Attributed for Retaining and Eroding Brand
Loyalty
Though loyalty was perceived as an all American
icon with fidelity and obligation following the
same path, the turn of the century has however
overturned the scales and there are fewer people
who would like to remain with the same organization,
purchase the same type of automobile, and vote
for the same party candidate. Similar trends can
be observed in the changing attitudes and falling
standards of relations between employees and their
employers, salesmen and their customers, so much
so that even relations between the government
and citizens are observed to show a continuous
decline. These trends then leads one to deduce
and evaluate some of the factors which have played
a significant role in retaining and those responsible
for the eroding loyalty, particularly for our
case study of brand loyalty in automobile purchasers
in the United States.
A brief at some of the factors responsible for
the declining brand loyalty include the choice,
an element that is ever on the rise with newer
models, increased number of accessories, safety
features and increasing similarity between different
manufacturers. This is followed by the availability
of information on the range of models, and the
extent of advertising that is found on both the
print and electronic media, with Internet as the
leading potential for sales and purchases alike.
Another important factor is the instilled notion
of some of the rights or entitlements, which most
Americans have come to accept as a norm; such
as the notion of buyers as to "what have
you done for me lately, or what extras do you
have in your model?”
In such an environment of individualism, it is
hardly possible for traits including loyalty 'to
take root and thrive'. Then there is the ever
important and equally unnoticeable aspect of increased
demand for higher quality, enhanced features,
competitive prices and discounts that have a stunning
effect on the choice of the brand. This has resulted
in manufacturing of similar brands with similar
features, as well as similar and look alike shapes
of automobiles all of which serve to distract
rather than retain brand loyalty amongst the potential
automobile buyers.
With some of the factors for the failure to retain
loyalty mentioned briefly in the preceding paragraph,
one can observe the results of this declining
trend. These include the shifting trends in brands
or make of the automobiles, as the buyers are
on look out for cheaper models yet with enhanced
features and accessories; the rising number of
complaints as against the age old practices of
keeping silent rather than complaining about their
vehicles, an evidence of behavioral shift; increased
tendencies of cynicism as against the pursuit
of the old American Dream accompanied with loosing
faith in institutions hence the fall in loyalty
(Shriver, 2000).
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